


Eight Years Gone

by magnesiumflamingo



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Developing Relationship, Falling In Love, Fix-It of Sorts, M/M, Protective Clint Barton, Protective Siblings, pietro's alive
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-28
Updated: 2019-08-28
Packaged: 2020-09-28 17:58:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,668
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20430098
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/magnesiumflamingo/pseuds/magnesiumflamingo
Summary: Wanda being brought back from the Snap inexplicably brought her brother back too. And Pietro's missed out on three years of her life and eight years of everything else.Luckily, Clint's there to help him with whatever he needs.





	Eight Years Gone

The place Pietro woke up in looked far more like something straight out of an apocalypse than the country he had grown up in.

Except something was completely wrong about it.

Ultron had laid waste to the entire city and yet there were no bodies of either people or Ultron’s puppets. There was far less rubble with it seemingly have been cleared away in areas as though there was an effort to dig people out. And the Avengers weren’t anywhere to be seen. In fact, there was absolutely no one…

It was just empty. His surroundings didn’t even speak of death. But Ultron had only been here what he believed to be moments ago?

He looked down to see his shirt riddled with bullet holes and yet there were no wounds to be seen.

Something was deeply wrong.

He needed to find Wanda.

She wouldn’t have left him. Not unless she knew he was dead and from the state of his shirt, that was the only thing he could work out.

Outside the heart of the city, he was sure civilisation had to exist somewhere. Given his speed, he hoped it wouldn’t take him too long. He passed many unmanned checkpoints as he exited the city, and outside of the city gave him a taste of normality. Though everything remained to be abandoned.

He had come up with quite a few theories in the time it took for him to find out what had happened. The first one being that he had actually died, and this was literal hell. Though none of his theories were even close to the actual truth.

When he found out Ultron was 8 years ago, Pietro felt sick. All evidence he had seen getting to this town pointed towards it and there was denying it.

And he died in that fight. Pietro didn’t know how the hell he was alive, but it made more sense when he heard about Thanos, the infinity stones, and the snap wiping out half of the planet. It sounded like complete fiction, yet the second use of the infinity stones lined up with his return.

Except he didn’t disappear in the first snap, and it still didn’t make sense.

Nothing made sense. 

The one thing in all of it that made sense was the fact that Wanda was alive and apparently fighting with the Avengers. She was even pictured in photos on the news, the public hailing her as a hero. She was OK and that was the only he cared about.

So if Wanda was in America, the plan was to get to America. Easier said than done being a dead man with no money. At least he was no stranger to doing anything illegal. And Wanda wasn’t here to talk some sense into him.

-

Pietro got into the country a day after Tony Stark’s funeral. The funeral had been covered by all the news worldwide.

The man who had saved the universe…

At that Pietro sneered. It was only recent news for him that Stark’s entire weapon enterprise almost ended his and his sister’s life, and he had been the whole reason behind Ultron. Well, for the latter he guessed he held the same amount of blame. He supposed he shouldn’t speak ill of the dead, especially about a man who clearly was trying to redeem himself, but he couldn’t help holding contempt for the guy.

It had taken him too long to get into America and it was agonising being so far away from his sister. They had spent their entire lives together and had never been apart for more than a few days. And now Pietro had hit another barrier. 

He had no idea where specifically Wanda was. People had always joked it’s like they had some psychological connection, and right now he wished that was true. Pietro was basically lost in an entire continent.

The last thing he wanted to do was to call SHIELD with their number listed on their hotline, the only contact for them he could fine. He would have done that all the way back in Sokovia if he thought it was a good idea. Pietro sighed, punching the number in on the stolen phone.

If Wanda trusted the Avengers and SHIELD, he knew he had to make the call. He pressed call, knowing someone who owed him a favour and he figured even if he didn’t work there, SHIELD could at least put him through to him after enough convincing.

“I need to speak to Agent Clint Barton. It’s urgent.”

***

Clint thought it was a trap.

And, paradoxically, that was every reason to go.

Maybe that shouldn’t have been his first response saying he had just got his entire family back, but whatever bastard was impersonating Pietro and pretending to be alive deserved an arrow to be put through him.

It was sick. And there was no way he would let Wanda find out about this.

He was surprised SHIELD were so forthcoming with the information given his retirement though he guessed nobody else wanted to deal with it. Like him, everybody was celebrating the return of the ones they had lost. Nothing else mattered.

Clint insisted on going in alone. They wanted him so they would get him. The things he had done after losing Laura and the kids made him the one to be feared. Going alone meant he could get away with more than what was just necessary.

Barton landed the jet just outside of the location he had been given and approached the single figure he could see cautiously. His bow was ready and primed, and he would shoot without hesitation.

And then he saw a shapeless blur go past him, and a voice from behind him.

“You didn’t half take your time, old man.”

Barton looked around to see Pietro leaning on the jet with crossed arms. They both looked each other up and down.

Pietro pressed his lips together. “Should we talk about the elephant in the room then?”

“Y-you’re alive? How the hell?” 

In no reality would Clint have ever believed that this would be anything other than some twisted trap and now the kid was stood right in front of him.  
“Oh, I was actually talking about the hair. You look like you’re having some kind of mid-life crisis,” Pietro smirked. Clint glared at him as if the prompt an answer. Pietro sighed. “I take it that it’s just you and Wanda’s not on the plane then?”

“I didn’t believe that it was really you. I mean, you died… Right in front of me.”

“Yeah, saving your life,” he pointed out, not bitterly but more as a matter of fact. “Now can we go and see my sister already?”

“No, not until you explain how you’re alive.”

He’s not sure if he actually believed all of this despite knowing it would be physically impossible for someone to pretend to have Pietro’s abilities even if current technology could imitate his face. However, in this job, everything was always too good to be true. And Pietro just so happened to come back from the dead?

Believing that this was just some mind-game created by some advanced alien technology was easier than believing a miracle had happened. The loss he had suffered clearly had turned him into a pessimist, but he liked to think it was for the best.

It’s not that he didn’t want to believe it was true. It was that he couldn’t afford to believe it, having lost enough already.

Pietro sighed again. “All I know is that I woke up in the middle of Novi Grad less than a week ago. Probably around the same time everyone else came back when Banner used those stones or whatever.”

“And it just happened to bring you back too? Why? You’re not related to anything and there’s been no other reports of the dead coming back to life. Jesus, I was there when they buried your body. So, excuse me if I’m not so sure on this one, kid.”

In response, he shrugged, exasperated. “I don’t know, alright. Beats me. I wish I could tell you, I really do… But that’s seriously all I know, I swear.”

In his gut, Barton felt he could trust him. It was both paranoia and experience telling him otherwise. Despite everything, he went with his gut.

He gestured towards the jet. “Get on then. I’m sure we’ll figure this all out.”

With his superspeed, Pietro rushed in and sat in the pilot’s seat with his feet up on the controls before Clint got there and only moved when Clint scowled at him. He sat in the seat next to him and watched as he fired up jet.

“Seriously, we’re not going to talk about the hair? Let me guess, you always wanted a mohawk in your teens and thought what the hell it’s not too late I can still pull it off?” 

From the smirk, he could tell he hadn’t made a mistake trusting him. It was too familiar. This was Pietro.

After finishing his insulting jokes, his tone turned serious. 

“Wanda… she’s OK, right?”

“She’s safe,” he answered, knowing that wasn’t exactly what he was asking. She was deep in grief from Vision’s death which was fresh in her memory even if it felt so long ago for him now. 

She was angry and heartbroken, and he knew how she felt. Exactly how she felt. She killed Vision and reversing time did not undo what she went through to do that. And he killed Natasha. They both carried guilt for having a life where those who they had loved didn’t. Neither of them had found a way living with that and he wasn’t sure they ever would.

Pietro pressed for a proper answer, “But how is she doing?”

There was three years of her life to fill him in on. And eight years of everything else. Luckily, they had a long trip ahead of them.


End file.
